City beaches closed at least into Sunday

June 20, 2009

Chicago's beaches remained closed today through at least Sunday morning, as crews cleaned up following the 12th heaviest rainfall ever in Chicago.

The rest of today should be clear and less humid, according to the Chicago Tribune's weather page. There is a chance of thunderstorms Sunday afternoon, and the heat index will climb to close to 100 degrees Wednesday and Thursday, with more thunderstorms possible on those days, according to the National Weather Service.

Friday's rains dumped 3.97 inches of water at O'Hare International Airport, more than twice as much as the prior record rainfall for June 19, according to the National Weather Service.

Unfortunately, because the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District opened its Wilmette locks to release sewer overflow due to the heavy rains Friday, Chicago, Evanston and several other Lake Michigan beachfronts were closed today. Chicago beaches may reopen Sunday, depending on the results of water tests.

Several area rivers were either at moderate flood stage or expected to crest just above flood stage in the next 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service.

As of 9:30 p.m., the outages were reduced to 9,334; 1,680 of those in the city, 3,572 in the northern suburbs, 3,791 in the southern suburbs and 291 in the west, according to a ComEd spokeswoman.

Johnson said ComEd expected to have power restored to most of those customers by noon Sunday, with the exception of a small group of residents in areas that were hardest hit by the storm, especially in a portion of Maywood.

The city was still dealing with 551 open complaints about water in city streets and 333 complaints about water in basements, according to a city press release. The Bureau of Electricity has dealt with traffic signals out, 31 light poles damaged and 73 reports of wires down to city poles or other city electrical equipment. There were no viaducts flooded as of 11:30 a.m., according to the city.

In Chicago, the Bureau of Forestry had dealt with almost 1,200 tree emergencies since Friday's storms hit, including damage to limbs, branches, and whole trees, according to the city.